Louise Toppin is a critically acclaimed soprano and well respected professor of vocal pedagogy at UMichigan. Here she is with Summer Storm composed by Margaret Bonds (https://youtu.be/-mYzHGJPxqs?si=c8NK9cM67tTe0EoI)
#RetroView #BlackHistoryMonth #LouiseToppin #MargaretBonds


And finally, “The N*gro Speaks of Rivers” (https://youtu.be/kiCqOzabU6A?si=MC1K7YwmKdn7yIeK) performed by the greatest coloratura contralto Marian Anderson. This 1941 composition is based on the poem “The N*gro Speaks of Rivers” by Margaret Bonds’ muse, co-conspirator and close friend Langston Hughes, who she met in the late 1930s after she graduated from college where she fell in love with his writing.
#SymSat #MargaretBonds #LangstonHughes #BlackHistoryMonth #MarianAnderson

“Credo” (https://youtu.be/NInltwWFL74?si=gxC_TNWxYiEB5y9-) is a 7-part cantata written in 1967 set to the 1904 W. E. B. Du Bois' prose poem of the same name. It’s notable for its blending of Western classical and N*gro Spiritual traditions. Each of the movements in “Credo” begins with a statement of belief and then goes on to center black historical figures and settings in a way that marries both ancestry with modern times (extra images added for alttext)

#SymSat #MargaretBonds #BlackHistoryMonth #WEBDuBois

At only age 13, Margaret Bonds would study under titan of Black classical composition Florence Price. I featured compositions by Price here on #SymSat last year (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2Zslnc5XTfu7fi6ne1JfkIezmX7Aj9YR&si=xEvEUbSFp-QrBdmn)
 #BlackHistoryMonth #MargaretBonds #FlorencePrice